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After what has happened to me, I really have the urge to tell my story and I'm therefore so glad to have found this website.

It had been a long path for me to get pregnant, eventually we concieved with the help of IVF in January this year.

In the beginning, there have been absolutely no symptomes of pregnancy, besides the menstruation-like cramps which most likely came from the artificial progesteron I had to use. We did not plan to have a pregnancy home urine test done, since the two previous treatments resulted in a negative, however at 11 days after the transfer, I could not wait anymore and just grabbed a test from the next drugstore.

To our surprise, the test was positive! We could not believe this! After all these years? Could it really be the case? Well, I ended up doing a pregnancy test each day until the blood test at the Gyn was scheduled. Did the 2nd line grow thicker? Maybe thinner? Was it maybe just a biochemical pregnancy? Well, on Monday, the 9th of February, it turned out the beta HcG was on 1031, so a baby was present, even if it could not yet be detected on the Ultrasound at that time.

Later that week, Saturday to be specific, I experienced mild cramps and spotting. Since it is my first pregnancy, I had absolutely no idea these symptomes were normal! So we went to the hospital, thinking it was an emergency.

It was still too early to find an embryo on the US, but a gestational sac plus yolk sac were present. The HcG was on 4180 at that time and therefore rising at a normal rate. There was no more vaginal bleeding, so we were sent home again, however the words of the doctor at the hospital sounded anything but encouraging.

"Severely underdeveloped, if I didn't know you had an IVF I would date you back 5 to 7 days. Assume this pregnancy may not last."

This was a huge shock for us. I cried all day and night because I was worried sick for one week!

The next appointment at the fertility clinic was not too amazing either. The transvaginal US lasted for about 10 seconds, the doc did not measure or anything, and saw just the same - gestational sac plus yolk sac. He then said "Well, it's indeed small, but we may wait."

Back at the Gyn, the same picture, just that the gestational sac grew a little. She said "I won't tell you what you wanna hear, young lady. This doesn't look like a great outcome, I can't give you an answer."

One day later, it was Friday again, I experienced some spotting once more, just after seeing our midwife for the first time. We went to the hospital, and after a long time of waiting, which seemed like an eternity, the doctor made another ultrasound. This time, all she was able to see was an empty gestational sac. Just one day after another doctor could very well see it! Additionally, the HcG rose only to about 10.000, which only means dobling over 5 or 6 days, when every 2 days would be normal!Her explanation to this was, that the yolk sac must have "dried out" within the last 24 hours, and that she can say with 100% certainty there would not be a fetus in my womb. We were devestated and broke down in tears on the floor of the clinic. The doctor then said "Wish you all the best, and please call me around next week for the D&C. The prognosis is not a good one, it looks nothing like an intact pregnancy and you will start bleeding within one week or so."

This was probably the worst week of our lives. Our amazing, beloved little one we wanted so much really has died? The one we loved and cared about the most! Just why our baby?

Well, however, for some reason I had a huge aversion against D&C. I knew of a woman who suffered from Ashermann Syndrome after having one, so I wanted to avoid this if somehow possible. I researched on the "abortion pill" (a horrible and disgusting thought for me who was pregnant after so much effort and suffering) and the possibilities of how long one could wait.

Then, Thurstday the following week - I still did not get the bleeding of which the doctor spoke. So I made another appointment at the fertility clinic. Actually we just wanted to discuss how to continue and where to get this pill from - but we still wanted an ultrasound just to be sure. What follows now, I will never forget my whole life.

"The heart is beating. I would say it's 6+4."

That moment, an imaginary orchestra started in my head. I cried tears of joy and relief. So much pain fell off our shoulders in this moment. Our child was alive! This was exactly one week ago, and I'm still in my 1st trimenon so of course, we are still worried and have yet no idea how this pregnancy will turn out - for now, however it's fine! And yes, even despite the HcG not rising at a normal rate, the baby still grew and the heart is beating!

So it is true - they do exist. And they are probably way more common than we would assume. I don't want to imagine how many children have been aborted, just because impatient doctors could not wait, were too incompetent to detect an early pregnancy or maybe - that was my theory - the opacity of the Ultrasound is probably so discreased, that it doesn't even pick up the glassy body of an embryo or yolk sac! Probably the number of victims is higher than we would ever think is possible! Maybe that's one more reason why there are - apparently so many blighted ovum, missed abortion etc, in IVF pregnancies? I wouldn't be surprised!

On another forum, a woman said something, which back then I dismissed as almost insulting nonsense - but she was right! Every child grows and develops differently. One does not walk at 14 months, another walks at 11 months. I thought back then, this is nothing comparable. But it is! We just know too little about this extremely early pregnancies.

If you are diagnosed with a blighted ovum as early as 5 or 6 weeks, please don't have a D&C! It still can be a healthy baby!

It is so common to look one to two weeks behind after IVF. There was even a study done on it and the researchers warned not to diagnosed a blighted ovum based on dating alone. I wrote a page on it because it seems to happen a lot here: http://carikay11.hubpages.com/hub/IVFMi ... iscarriage

Your story is going to give hope to so many women. Thank you for that. I hope you keep us updated!

This is an amazing story! I find that early U/S is the biggest swindle of all times. I think it only should be used to diagnose ectopics. I know that waiting until week 8 or 9 is hard but that's when it really has predictive power (no hb at week9 with intra U/S probably does mean a m/c).